Golden Princess

Terri and Daniel Brown

This cruise was my second and Dan's first. I had to practically beg Dan to
go on this cruise. Princess was everything we expected and more. The crew
made us feel like royalty and very comfortable.

Arrival in Florida - We stayed at the Ramada Inn -- word to the wise -
DON'T - Very dirty, doors didn't lock; only a trickle of water for our
shower, beds smelled, were horrible. Food was expensive and awful. The
morning of the cruise, we took a hotel shuttle to the port.
Port Arrival - We arrived at the Port 2 hours before embarkation. This was
okay in that we were practically first in line and that we were able to
meet many people that had cruised before. Everyone was sooooo upbeat; we
were excited to be experiencing everything.
At 11:00 am we started the embarkation process and were in our stateroom
by 11:20am.

Accommodations
We stayed on the Emerald Deck at the front of the ship and stayed in a
balcony room. The room seemed larger than we expected plenty of closet
storage, small bathroom. TV had up to date movies, small refrigerator,
table, queen bed, and 2 night stands. The balcony had 2 deck chairs,
dining table and 2 dining chairs. Our cabin steward kept our room very
neat and clean. Clean deck towels were provided 2 times a day. We highly
recommend a balcony room - If we didn't feel like being around alot of
people, we would go to our room, have drinks, lunch or whatever. Sometimes
we just wanted to read and relax---- this was the place to do it.

The ship was immaculate and beautiful, the crew was very friendly. Ages of
the passengers were mostly in their 40's. Although, we did see plenty of
younger families and older cruisers. I honestly don't remember how many
pools were on board, but we spent most of our time in the 'adult only' end
of the ship. I think this was on deck 12 at the back of the ship,
wonderful for reading and relaxing. The other pools were fun and exciting
for those that like to party...and we did do some of that. The cruise
director had plenty of activities booked... so much to do. He made you
feel like he's known you for such a long time.

Things to do
After we left our cabin on the first day, I booked a spa treatment at the
Lotus Spa - manicure, pedicure, and massage for the next morning. It was
absolutely the best thing I could have done. The massage was completely
relaxing. The manicure/pedicure area overlooked the ocean, relaxing music,
wonderful aromas, friendly crew....I was in heaven and so relaxed.
We also experienced a wine tasting at $7.50 per person, well worth it. Dan
took a cooking class, he loved it. We experienced a couple of shows in the
Princess Theatre, very enjoyable. All activities were listed in the
Princess Patter. There was just so much to do, we couldn't do everything
we wanted. The lounge acts were funny; the lounges also had terrific
dancing and entertainment.
Dining
Anytime dining is the way to go. We usually dined in the evening at
Donatello’s; smart casual, except for formal nights. Women dressed in
anything from sundresses and sandals to long dresses and shoes. Men were
in khakis and open neck shirts to pants and sport coats. Five new entrees
every night as well as the regular menu….5 courses! I couldn’t begin to
eat all the food. For the most part everything was very good. And you
could have as much as you wanted…..we couldn’t eat all 5 courses, can’t
imagine asking for more. The wait staff was exceptional, anticipated our
every need.

Daytime dining was usually in the 24 hour Horizon Court. The food was very
good, especially for buffet style dining. The wait staff was younger, and
probably not as refined as the more formal dining area, but it didn’t
detract from the experience. The views were amazing! What a way to dine!

St Maarten/St Martin
We took an island tour by bus, very enjoyable. After the tour we walked
the streets, shopped, had a drink on the beautiful beach and walked back
to the ship…overall nice experience.

St Thomas
Didn’t know about the jewelry until the tour activities director on the
ship kept giving pointers about the best jewelry buys on the island. What
deals you can get on jewelry!
We took a 3 hour snorkeling trip, well worth the money - $65.00 each. The
water was a little cooler than I expected, but still very nice. We saw so
many stingrays, and they were quite friendly too. We were with a nice, fun
group of people. They served rum punch, sodas, snack foods, and fun music.
Highly recommended.

Princess Cays
Owned by Princess. BBQ, snorkeling, souvenirs, nice island. Unfortunately
it started off as a very cloudy day, and cleared up about 1 hour before we
had to leave. Next time, I’ll probably stay on the ship, get a spa
treatment – usually discounted on Port days, and relax or participate in
one of the ship board activities.
Disembarkation

Not too bad, we waited about 45 minutes to leave the ship. Had no problem
finding our luggage. Princess had busses for those of us that had
airplanes to catch. We got to the airport about 4 hours before our flight,
had lunch, and wished we were back on the ship.
Overall experience

Wonderful, highly recommended. Dan is now hooked and has already started
booking our next Princess Cruise. This time we are taking our entire
family. I can’t believe how wonderful it was. Next time we are going 2
days early so that we can relax before the cruise and enjoy everyday of
the trip without being worn out from getting there. We will definitely
stay at a nicer hotel before hand though.